Fans donned blue and white. Footballs took flight in the air. People trickled in and out of the Beaver Stadium gift shop.

It almost seemed normal. Almost.

But fans lined the streets outside the looming stadium that rose like an erector set when Joe Paterno started racking up wins and fans began streaming to football games in the fall. On this day, no one entered the house that Joe built.

Instead, they stood in the thousands, many in full football season regalia, for Paterno to come to this special place, this sacred place, one more time. Not on a team bus, but in a blue hearse.

C. Willis Herr was ablaze with blue hair, the same, ratty wig he bought
at Woolworth’s in 1983 and donned for nearly every Penn State game
since. The wig’s blue polyester tufts are matted and tangled, but that’s
not why the Class of ’64 alum is retiring his most treasured article.

It’s just that with Paterno’s passing, an era is ending.

His
wife, fellow alum and constant Penn State football companion was in
tears when she laid her wig at the foot of the Paterno statue that is
now awash in hundreds of equally personal tributes. Herr isn’t sure what
he’ll do with his. The Lancaster resident just knows he won’t be
wearing it to any more football games.

“We had such a good time,”
Herr said, smiling over all those seasons. “Whether I have the gumption
to go to any more games, I don’t know.”

Senior John Tecce takes
presiding over Paternoville, the student village that usually springs up
outside Gate A before every home football game, very personally. And
the Paternoville president wanted to make sure a lone blue tent stood on
the site when the funeral procession rolled by.

“Joe really
liked driving by and seeing the tents up,” Tecce said, adding that his
group already has the Paterno family’ blessing to continue the
tradition, name and all. “Our members wanted to bring Paternoville into
this experience. I’m proud to do so.”

Martha Raush wore a white
jacket festooned with buttons, pins and ribbons from dozens of big games
over the decades. The out of town clashes with the likes of Notre Dame,
Ohio State and a half-dozen other college powers, along with the
post-season bowl games, read like a travelogue for Raush. Each one marks
a fun family vacation that was centered around Penn State football.

“We
had a lot of fun with it,” said the Class of ’87 alum from Lancaster.
And in a very real sense, Joe Paterno had planned the family’s
vacations. That’s personal.

Perhaps every fan who flocked here
had a similar story. A special memento tied to a special place. This
place. Beaver Stadium. And to Joe Paterno.

The electronic billboard outside the Bryce Jordan Center flashed with the words, “Thanks JoePa.” And an image of Paterno, his arms crossed and beaming confidence, glowed on the Beaver Stadium JumboTron.

The old, ex-coach presided over the field one final time.

And when the funeral procession came rolling slowly down Curtin Street, the blue hearse leading team buses filled with his players past and present, silence fell over the crowd.

This time, there were no “We Are Penn State” chants. Merely a sign that read, “We Are Because You Were.”